Hanakaeru
Hanakaeru is a pseudo Nature Light and Toxic Class monster native to Sekiei. Their huge, muscular body and many predatorial defense mechanisms betray their generally docile nature. Appearance Hanakaeru are squat quadrupeds, with four, stocky legs and flat, three-toed feet. Short, white claws extend outwards from each toe. A hanakaeru's large head is supported by a short, thick neck. Their tall ears are mobile, able to independently to one another in a 360-degree circle. They have small, dark red eyes, a small, blunt snout, a wide mouth with canine tusks the length of the average human male's forearm in the upper and lower jaws, and several long, prehensile tongues. Their soft scales are blue-green in order to mimic the foliage of their surrounding environment. Large fronds across their back further this camouflage technique. A bright pink and white-spotted flower is attached to a hanakaeru's back, allowing them to absorb and store as metabolic energy. On either side of a hanakaeru's body, hidden by their fronds, are three retractable, vine-like tentacles. Their tentacles are covered in thin hairs that are highly sensitive to touch, smell and sound. Each one ends in a bulb with a mouth lined with needle-like teeth, fit perfectly for latching onto the limbs of predators and draining the moisture from their body. Three dark green toadstones are set inside the forehead of each hanakaeru. The size and colour of each gemstone shows the age of a hanakaeru. The gemstones themselves are bioluminescent, glowing brightly in low-light conditions, and can be used in the crafting of antidote potions. Diet Hanakaeru subsists entirely on sunlight and water, providing fuel for their metabolism similar to a human's consumption of meat, poultry, vegetation and water. Reproduction and Life Cycle The entire reproductive process takes place during early spring. Hanakaeru are hermaphroditic, possessing both a male stamen and a female pistil in their flower. From the base the flower's base, hanakaeru release a sweet-smelling aroma to attract insects. These insects hold the pollen of another hanakaeru's stamen, which allows the pistil to absorb and transform the pollen into a dark red and black-speckled egg. These eggs are about the size of an adult male human's hand and are carried across the hanakaeru's body until they hatch. Gestation takes about two hours, while hatching has an average duration of between one and one-and-a-half hours. Hanakaeru normally lay around six eggs per day, becoming infertile only when they reach fifty-five years. Young hanakaeru are known as kaerudane. Both stages resemble smaller versions of their adult stages, with only a closed bulb, which slowly becomes bright red as they mature, and the lack of fronds across the kaerudane's back being the only physical differences between the two stages. Kaerudane reach the adult stage after thirty-two days. Hanakaeru are far more active during the spring and especially the summer, when the sunlight is more numerous. During the autumn, hanakaeru become more lethargic, spending most of their time outside of the water, searching for large clearings to absorb what sunlight there is. Come winter, hanakaeru will find a location deep within the forest to rest, entering a state of hibernation until spring arrives. The colour and size of a hanakaeru's flower determines its age. As a hanakaeru ages, their skin pales, their flower starts to wilt and their toadstones become brighter and darker in shade. Wilting at a young or mature age is also considered a sign of malnutrition. At the end of their life, the potency of a hanakaeru's toadstone is extremely powerful, and worth the risk of tracking down and hunting one by humanity's standards. Demographics Hanakaeru form nomadic tribes, normally resting near lakes and rivers at night and constantly on the move during the day in search of sunlit clearings. Culture Values and Ethics Hanakaeru are generally docile, preferring pacifism over aggression. They see violence as only justified in defence of their young or themselves. Their first response to conflict is expected to be a dedicated attempt to calm emotions through their ability to produce different scents. They see aggression as a matter of immaturity and ignorance of the consequences of one's actions on others and the environment. This does not mean that they are obedient, however, as they are more than content with disobeying the law should they feel it goes against their beliefs or mistreats them in some way. Language Because of this reliance on scents, because of their language consisting primarily of aromas determining specific emotions, hanakaeru give emotions to certain smells. For example, the natural smell of dew on plants is believed to indicate happiness, as it is the work of the deities of the sky, rain and sun. Religion Deities Hanakaeru have six deities: Aliyu, the deity of life and the sun, Edeugo, the deity of the daytime sky, Okati, the deity of rainfall and water, Naheand, the deity of the shadows and nocturnal animals, Debiq, the deity of the time of night, Lehyb, the deity of the moon, stars and death. Creation Myth Aliyu, Edeugo and Okati are siblings, as are Naheand, Debiq and Lehyb, born from two different seeds at the birth of the world. The world itself, to hanakaeru, is believed to be a gigantic tree known as Paxul. The roots and soil form the earth, while the leaves form the sky. The deities were born from the fruit that grew from Paxul's branches, each one's birth coinciding with the creation of their respective aspects of the world. Paxul Beliefs Hanakaeru see anything that survives by the sun as good, as it is cared for and sustained by Aliyu and Okati, and anything shrouded in darkness as evil, as it is shrouded by Naheand, who works under Debiq and Lehyb, the deities of shadows, the night and death, respectively. They believe that simply looking at the moon or the stars is a death sentence, and the offender will be taken by Debiq to be killed by Lehyb before sunrise. Likewise, they abhor nocturnal animals and monsters, believing them to be the living embodiment of death. This is due to the natural torpor state that hanakaeru and kaerudane enter at night, a state that they associate with death. Any nocturnal animal they see enter their home during the day are killed, and anything associated with the night, such as the moon and stars, are considered the eyes of Lehyb, watching and waiting for the hanakaeru and the hanadare to look up at it and die. Ageing is seen as similarly disgusting, a sign of being overtaken by Lehyb after glancing at the night sky. To the hanakaeru and hanadare, aging is something to be avoided at all costs through the constant absorbing of sunlight and the application of plant paste to retain their young skin tone. These are believed to delay the ageing process and, therefore, retain youth. Customs Birth Coming-of-Age Death Abilities Flash The toadstones growing across a hanakaeru's body are bioluminescent, able to glow iridescently when in low-light conditions. The colour of each toadstone's glow is used by hanakaeru to show their social status and age. Hearing The mobility of their ears provides hanakaeru with excellent hearing, allowing them to hear sounds at a pitch higher than humans can. Leech Seed In a similar manner to venom-spitting snakes, hanakaeru have glands on either side of their head, just below each eye, attached to their multiple tongues. Inside these glands are several small seeds, which are shot out of each tongue with enough force to embed them deep into their target's bones. While no longer inside the hanakaeru, the seeds are able to drain the victim's moisture and transfer it into the hanakaeru's body. Poisonous Skin Hanakaeru constantly secrete a translucent substance that, when it makes contact with the skin, induces sudden vomiting and diarrhea. Aside from these adverse effects, this poison is not itself fatal. Poison Powder Out of their blooming flower, hanakaeru are able to release a purple dust-like powder which, once it makes contact with the skin, causes the affected area to burn like white-hot flames and produce boils that expand until they burst, tearing the skin open and leaving the victim writhing in agony while the hanakaeru escapes. Razor Leaf The fronds across a hanakaeru's back can be sharpened to the texture of a knife's edge and ejected as projectiles, capable of slicing cleanly through bone. Sight Due to their small, wide-set eyes and horizontal pupils, hanakaeru are able to see in front, to the sides, and partially behind them, albeit only at close range. Despite this, hanakaeru are able to see in a much wider spectrum of colour than humans and even many monsters, able to discern the smallest differences in shades of colour that is impossible for humans to grasp. Sleep Powder In the same manner as their Poison Powder technique, hanakaeru are able to release light green dust-like powder from their flower. When the powder is inhaled, it induces temporary sleep paralysis in its victims. Solar Beam Through the absorbency of their flower, hanakaeru are able to store and release sunlight as concentrated beams of white-hot light capable of completely evaporate any organisms caught in the blast. Strength A hanakaeru's body is composed of condensed plant matter, similar in mass to an oak tree. Despite their reputation for being slow, hanakaeru are easily able to outrun a human, reaching speeds of up to 30 km / h in short bursts. Their sheer size results in anything caught in their path being crushed. Scent Generation Hanakaeru communication is entirely based on aromas, as they lack any ability to form words due to a lack of vocal chords or lungs. Hanakaeru and kaerudane are able to release different fragrances from their flower at will, in order to communicate different emotions. Especially strong scents imply strong emotions, such as rage, grief, ecstasy or disgust. Synthesis Hanakaeru are able to regenerate any damaged cells through absorbing sunlight. The strength of the sunlight and the time of day determine how much of the injury they can heal from. Vine Whip The power held within a hanakaeru's tentacles are enough to split open a rokkusheru's shell, dislocate or even sever limbs and completely pulverise a human's skull upon impact. Weaknesses Because of their reliance on sunlight, hanakaeru enter a state of hibernation when exposed to low temperatures, wherein they become sluggish and unable to move. Additionally, the plant matter that makes up their body is highly susceptible to fire. Pronunciation Guide * Hanakaeru HAH-nah-KAYRL-ooh * Kaerudane KAYRL-ooh-DA-nay * Aliyu ah-LEE-yooh * Edeugo eh-DYOOH-goh * Okati oh-KAH-teeh * Naheand nah-HYAND * Debiq deh-BEEK * Lehyb leh-HEEB * Paxul PAHK-sool MythosLocke Rules * Cannot be on the same team as Dark-type and nocturnal Pokémon. * Must be sent out to fight against any and all Dark-type and nocturnal Pokémon that the team encounters, and cannot be switched out until they either defeat their opponent or die. * Can only be used during the times of morning and day (4:00 a.m. to 5:59 p.m.). * Must learn Sunny Day and Solar Beam, and cannot forget these moves after they learn them. Trivia *Hanakaeru is the MythosVerse interpretation of Venusaur. The name comes from the Japanese words 花 (hana), which means "flower", and かえる (kaeru), which means "frog". *Hanakaeru have myopia. *A hanakaeru's tentacles are anatomically similar to a cephalopod limb, while their round snout, eyes set on either side of their head, plump figure and greenish skin vaguely resemble a common frog or toad. *In contrast to the in-game data, hanakaeru are hermaphroditic, having both male and female reproductive, plant-based organs, as opposed to being sexually dimorphic as in canon. Category:Bestiary Category:Lore Category:Monsters Category:Nature Class Monsters Category:Plant-Based Monsters Category:Pseudo Class Monsters Category:Quadrupeds Category:Toxic Class Monsters